Laughing Linnet Publications
Welcome to the wonderful world of The Laughing Linnet - Children's book author, artist, poet and nature blogger (aka Leila Bassir!) Feel free to browse and look around. Although, please note some pages are still under construction.
Nature walks, scavenger hunts, nature activities, travel
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All images copyright of Leila Bassir and Laughing Linnet Publications 2018
Children's Book Author, Illustrator and Poet
Hello and thank you for visiting my website. My name is Leila – children’s book author, artist, poet and nature lover. I hope you enjoy discovering my books and keep an eye open – there are always new books on the way. Feel free to browse my art gallery too – I love art – especially art inspired by nature. I guess you are seeing a link here – yes, my poetry is inspired by nature too!
Benefits of Reading to Children
As I am sure you know, reading to children has so many benefits… It enhances development of their literacy skills, encourages emotional development and empathy, aids growth of their social and communication skills and most important of all, it promotes intimacy, attachment and parent-child bonding. From infancy to toddler-hood, pre-school to school-agers and all the way through the teenager years, reading sparks the imagination, cultivates passion for learning and builds world and cultural understanding.
Enhancing Story Time
But, while reading for the sake of reading, is all fine and dandy, we need to remember why we are reading. What is the purpose of sitting down with our children, book in hand, and pronouncing word after word? Do we want them merely to hear the words? Or do we want to bring them and ourselves in, engross everyone in the story, laugh, cry, have fun, shiver with excitement and tingle in anticipation?
So, read with enthusiasm. Read with delight. Make the sounds. Do the actions. Speak in the characters’ voices. Growl, squawk, squeak, flap, skip, jump, dance! Dive right inside the words and pictures. Pretend you are inside the book – look at the colours; hear the sounds; feel the weather; taste the food; smell the woodsmoke, the rain, the earth, the feast… Explore the world together!
Discover New Stories, New Worlds and New Books.
Keep books freely available and within your children’s reach. Go with the flow… if they want to read the same story over and over and over, then read it. Yes, at times you want to chuck the book in the ocean to not have to read it again, but… the children are clearly enthralled by a character, a plot, or who knows what else in the story. So bide with it a while. They will soon find a new favorite.
Peruse your local libraries and befriend your librarians – they will soon show you all the new reads and the best books in the town. Join your local story time or children’s reading circle; discover some parent swap groups; hit your charity shop book shelves; listen to audio-books… There are so many sources available to discover new book ideas.
Perhaps you could even try perusing the internet. How about taking a look at SCBWI – The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, for instance. Here you can discover new children’s book authors, old children’s book authors, classics, favorites and upcoming stars! Who and what will YOU discover?
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For more information about reading to children, you may also like to have a look at these pages: